Washington State's Initiative 1401 could make your grandmother a criminal! That's right; the initiative that will be on Washington's ballot this November 3, could make a felon of anyone in that state selling, trading or giving away a century-old piano with ivory keys, an antique shotgun or rifle with ivory sight beads or inlays, or your mother's 1951 height-of-fashion leopard or sealskin jacket. Grandfather's cribbage board with Alaska ivory pegs could be seized by state wildlife officers without a warrant and donated or sold for use in an "educational" display about wildlife trafficking.
The initiative actually covers more than ivory. The language states that distributing any species listed as Appendix I or II of CITES and any of the 10,000-plus species listed on the IUCN's Red List (
http://www.iucnredlist.org/search) as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable would be a criminal act. That would include argali, African lion, elephant, leopard, hog deer and many other game species that are given CITES quotas or are scarce in their native range but may be abundant in other destinations where they were introduced or kept on estates. Any distribution of such species is not just unlawful trade, but would be considered trafficking under this law.
If you live in Washington, vote NO on this over-reaching initiative and tell your friends and family to vote NO. If you don't live in Washington, be hyper vigilant against such initiatives that may be introduced in your state. Already some lawmakers in the Northeast have tried to introduce legislation that would outlaw many hunting trophies, and we have seen other initiatives in various other states where animal rightists have gotten initiatives on the ballot to end mountain lion hunting, dove hunting and bear hunting. Initiative 1401 will not be the last initiative we see attempting to criminalize wildlife products that were acquired legally.
You can read about Initiative 1401 at
http://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Animal_Trafficking,_Initiative_1401_(2015). The effort is led by Save Animals Facing Extinction and is supported by Paul Allan, co-founder of Microsoft, plus the Humane Society of the United States, Born Free USA and International Fund for Animal Welfare, among others. They have raised more than $2 Million to support its passing.
Read the entire text of Initiative 1401 athttps://wei.sos.wa.gov/agency/osos/en/press_and_research/PreviousElections/2015/General-Election/Documents/I1401CompleteText.pdf
While there is an exception made for antique items, the requirements to produce original documentation proving legal acquisition likely makes it impossible for most people to meet the criteria of a legal "distribution." The definition of "distribution" under this initiative is either "a change in possession for consideration or a change in legal ownership." Do you have paperwork for your family heirlooms proving they were legally acquired before current regulations?
